One category of electronic games involves controlling an object while it is in motion along paths or streets comprising an open grid. The object may be a vehicle, such as a motorcycle or automobile, or can be a character or creature within the virtual environment of the game. An open grid generally provides limits on the direction of motion of the object within the virtual environment. For example, an open grid may be the streets that are generally laid out in orthogonal directions that define blocks. Although constraints imposed on the movement of an object within a virtual environment may depend on the game, even if an object is able to leave the limits of the open grid on which it is traveling, in most games of this type, the object will normally travel along the streets or paths defining the open grid and preferably remain on them at all times (unless the player “loses control” of the object).
In many games that employ an open grid, a player can selectively navigate along various routes, constrained only by the limits of the game and the design of the open grid. Thus, an open grid virtual environment is in contrast to a virtual environment that enables or encourages more unrestrained movement of an object. For example, a game in which a player is flying a plane or a spaceship will permit the player to freely control the plane or spaceship in three dimensions, limited only by the practical considerations of hitting barriers or other objects within the virtual environment of the game.
In electronic games that employ an open grid, a player will typically try to reach goals that are disposed at predefined locations within the open grid. Thus, the winner of such a game may be the player that navigates an object through the open grid and reaches all of the goals in the shortest total time. When navigating toward a goal, it will be necessary for the player controlling an object, such as an automobile, to turn the object at intersections of the open grid and follow the streets or paths of the open grid that lead to each successive goal. To assist a player in navigating through the open grid, an overview map showing the relative location of the object being controlled by the player and the next goal to be reached is sometimes provided. While an overview map is helpful, it may still be somewhat difficult for the player to track the moving object on the map relative to the goals, while controlling the object to navigate through the open grid to each successive goal.
Another form of assistance that is sometimes provided to a player is a goal indicator that shows the direction (as the “crow flies,” or in a straight line that is not restricted by the limits of the open grid) to the next goal from the object that the player is navigating. The goal indicator can be an arrow or other directional symbol, or a compass heading that is displayed in the window in which the virtual environment of the game is displayed. The goal indicator provides a general sense of where the goal is relative to the object, but cannot help a player avoid turning down dead end paths that may seem to lead toward a goal, or taking other inappropriate turns, or passing a turn that should have been taken. This problem can be particularly frustrating to players who are less skilled in playing games. Clearly, what is needed to help such players navigate through an open grid is assistance in determining where to turn and in which direction to turn in order to reach the next goal. Indicating the directions and locations to turn, as well as indicating the general direction toward the goal, should greatly ease the burden of navigating through an open grid in an electronic game or other virtual environment.